CDOT also released these updates on state highways affected by flooding in Boulder County:

U.S. 36 between Lyons and Estes Park is expected to reopen by Dec. 1. The National Guard is working with CDOT to make temporary repairs.

U.S. 36 south of the Ute Highway is expected to be open to a single lane of alternating traffic today. Repairs on a damaged bridge near where the two highways meet is nearly complete, according to CDOT.

Coal Creek Canyon Road (Colo. 72) between Colo. 93 and the Peak to Peak Highway is being repaired and should be open by the end of November.

Colo. 7 between Lyons and Estes Park is now being assessed. Further information was not immediately available, but the goal is to open the road on a temporary basis by Dec. 1.

Colorado Department of Transportation officials expect to reopen Boulder Canyon in mid- to late October.

CDOT, in partnership with Gov. John Hickenlooper, on Thursday outlined reopening schedules for a series of roadways damaged by this month's devastating flooding, including the stretch of Colo. 119 that runs through Boulder Canyon, linking Boulder and Nederland.

Hickenlooper, who previously set Dec. 1 as a deadline by which state highways must be reopened, has signed an executive order making an additional $65.5 million in state funding available for flood recovery. A total of $91.5 million in state money has now been set aside for those efforts.

CDOT spokeswoman Amy Ford said an estimated 20 percent of the stretch of what is commonly known as Boulder Canyon Drive was lost to flood damage.

"Most of it is washed-out road base," Ford said. "There are some areas where the road has been chopped up and washed away entirely."

There was also extensive damage to shoulders in the canyon, Ford said, and crews will be working to repair some bridges and sections of roadway where it approaches bridges.

The most heavily damaged portion of Boulder Canyon Drive is between the mouth of the canyon and Fourmile Canyon Drive, Ford said. Contractors are expected to be working in that area 24 hours a day in the coming weeks to ensure it will open next month.

CDOT is keeping the roadway closed at the mouth of the canyon and is asking residents who live in the area to continue using alternate routes to access their homes.

"For us to meet that schedule, we are asking people to be patient and asking them to go the long way around," Ford said. "If we can keep the speed going, we will be able to get this open as quickly as we can in mid-October."

Ford said CDOT is working with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office on alternate routes area residents can use while the canyon is closed.

One route she outlined was taking Sunshine Canyon Drive west to Poorman Road, then Poorman Road south to Fourmile Canyon Drive and Fourmile to Canyonside Drive.

Ford said CDOT acknowledges that some area residents have hired private contractors to help with their own rebuilding and restoration, but she said those contractors also will have to take alternate routes until the road is ready to open.

She said road crews will have protocols in place to accommodate emergency vehicles that need to move through the canyon.

Permanent repairs to Colorado's highways are expected to cost an estimated $475 million. The Boulder Office of Emergency Management's preliminary assessments estimated that $89 million in damage was done to roads and bridges in Lyons, Jamestown and unincorporated Boulder County alone.

County transportation officials earlier this week estimated that about 50 to 60 percent of Lefthand Canyon Drive had been destroyed by flooding. Still, Boulder County Transportation Director George Gerstle was optimistic a rudimentary two-lane road could be built through Lefthand Canyon by winter, providing direct access to Jamestown.

Similarly, CDOT hopes to restore mobility to state highways by completing temporary or permanent repairs in time to meet the governor's Dec. 1 deadline.

Many repairs are weather-dependent, and officials are emphasizing the schedules for reopening damaged roadways are subject to change as the damage is further assessed.

Crews work to clear Boulder Canyon Drive on Sept. 18 after floodwaters left road damage and debris.
(Mark Leffingwell)

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